User Management

Vendure has two distinct types of users: Administrators who manage the store through the Admin API, and Customers who interact with the storefront through the Shop API. Both share a common identity foundation through the User entity.

The User entity

The User entity is the core identity record. It holds the authentication credentials, verification status, and login history. A User does not directly represent either an administrator or a customer — instead, both the Administrator and Customer entities hold a relation to a single User.

This separation keeps identity concerns (authentication, verification) cleanly decoupled from domain-specific data (order history for customers, role assignments for administrators).

Administrators

An Administrator represents someone who manages the store. Each Administrator relates to exactly one User and is assigned one or more Roles that determine what operations they can perform.

Administrators interact exclusively with the Admin API. Their access is governed entirely by the permissions granted through their assigned roles.

Customers

A Customer represents someone who shops in the storefront. A registered customer relates to a User entity, which provides their login credentials and identity.

Customers interact with the Shop API. A registered customer receives the built-in "Customer" role, which grants the minimum permissions needed to manage their own account and view their order history.

Guest customers

Vendure supports guest checkout, where a customer can place an order without creating an account. A guest customer has a Customer record with an email address but no associated User entity. This means they have no login credentials and no role assignments.

Because guests have no permissions, they cannot view past orders or manage their account after the session ends. However, a guest can later register an account using the same email address. When they do, Vendure links the new User to the existing Customer record, preserving their order history.

Authentication strategies

Vendure supports multiple ways to verify a user's identity. The built-in NativeAuthenticationStrategy uses a traditional email/password approach. Additional strategies can be configured to support external identity providers such as social logins or single sign-on (SSO) systems.

Separate strategies can be configured for the Shop API and Admin API, allowing different authentication flows for customers and administrators. For example, customers might authenticate via Google login while administrators use a corporate SSO provider.